Sex offender kills himself at nudist resort
A convicted sex offender fatally shot himself Wednesday morning at a
Chesnee nudist resort and campground.

By Teresa Killian

A convicted sex offender fatally shot himself Wednesday morning
at a Chesnee nudist resort and campground.
Michael Thomas Cauthen, 39, of Heath Springs did not show up for
his May trial on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with
a minor and disseminating obscene material to a minor, said Assistant
Solicitor Tom Holland with the 6th Circuit in Lancaster County.
He was accused of sexual battery on a child between the ages of 9
and 11 and of providing pictures of nude children from the Internet to
a child between September 1998 and December 2000, Holland said.
Cauthen was arrested and released from jail March 5, 2001, under
a $30,000 bond, Holland said.
He did not cooperate with his attorney or with the court, Holland
said.
Cauthen missed appointments and did not comply with orders to
appear in court, he said.
Cauthen was convicted of the sexually related offenses in his
absence May 21, Holland said.
Officials with the S.C. Law Enforcement Division and the
Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office went Wednesday morning to Carolina
Foothills Drive in Chesnee to locate Cauthen, who they believed was a
fugitive from justice. The area is home to a nudist resort.